4G LTE Broadband

Idea Cellular 4G-LTE Strategy – Win Leadership Circles Only

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Idea Cellular one of the Top 3 Telcos in India has been a subject of critic for being laid-back in its approach on 4G LTE Mobile Data services. Idea invested aggressively in expanding 2G Voice Network and expects the next few quarters for voice rates to remain stable at around present levels and do not see much upside.

What is Idea’s 4G LTE Strategy ?
We all know that Idea Cellular currently occupies the Top or Second Slot in Revenue Market Share in 10 of the 22 Telecom Circles of India – Maharashtra, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, UP (West) and Gujarat. Idea currently earns 75% of its Revenues

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Why didn’t Idea acquire 4G LTE Spectrum Aggressively ?

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Idea 4G LTE SpectrumReliance Jio Infocomm which wants to run an all IP PAN India Telecommunications Network funded from its shady Oil & Gas business is the most aggressive Telco to launch a greenfield operation in the next few months. Airtel, India’s Largest Integrated Telco felt the heat from Jio’s plans and sought approval from its foreign partner / investor SingTel to get aggressive and has so far managed to beat Reliance Jio by being the first operator to launch 4G services.

Idea Cellular management suggested data growth will depend a lot on subscriber growth and the likelihood of ARPU increase is not much. The company suggested that even though c35% of its user base owned smartphones, only c30% were on 3G/4G. Separately management expects the decline in data tariffs to

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Reliance Jio Phased Launch in Next 3 to 6 Months

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Reliance Jio Launch IndiaReliance Jio Infocomm wishes to integrate 800Mhz Spectrum from Reliance Communications before launching commercial services in a phased manner spanning over the next 3 to 9 months. The next 2 months will see upscaled trials (beyond employees), to test scalability and coverage. Their biggest advantage is the pan-India 800 Mhz spectrum for LTE, while none of the incumbents are launching LTE on sub-Ghz spectrum.

Reliance Jio is unlikely to use the 2G/3G network of even roaming partners like RCOM/BSNL, their network coverage needs to be near-perfect

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How Akash Ambani is Positioning Jio Mobile Data LTE Offering for 1 Bn Consumers?

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Akash Ambani's Jio Mobile Data StrategyReliance Jio Infocomm launch still looks to be a few months away. This has been the ongoing dilemma for the past few years now, and the uncertainty is not helping anyone. Management attributed this to a combination of some more testing to be fully-ready for all data applications, being able to integrate 800MHz, etc.

What is Akash Ambani’s Mobile Broadband Strategy for 1 Billion Consumer Market ?
Jio is basing its approach on poor data speeds and low internet penetration in India, and expectation of high growth over the next 10 years in data traffic, especially video

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How Reliance Jio will Mitigate Network Quality Issues with 800 Band Spectrum ?

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Reliance Jio Launch DelayedAkash Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocomm has created the required hype and expectations for a High Speed 4G Mobile broadband. However, like any other Telco, Reliance Jio has its share of woes to stabilize and achieve network coverage with the spectrum band its is operating in 2300Mhz and 1800Mhz thus pushing the big bang nation wide launch further ahead. In this backdrop, Jio’s boss Mukesh has smartly shed his ego and shook hands with his estranged brother Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications which owns 800Mhz spectrum, the best suite for 4G-LTE services.

Jio will manage launch well before December 2016

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Airtel 4G LTE PAN India Spectrum Complete, May Skip 700Mhz Auction

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Airtel 4G LTE PAN India SpectrumIndia’s Largest Telecom Operator, Airtel has acquired 2300MHz in 8 Circles from Aircel to complete Pan India 4G-LTE Footprint by virtue of combination of 1800Mhz and 2300Mhz contiguous spectrum blocks.

The acquisition of spectrum in three circles has been done at a total consideration of INR35bn (~4% of current net debt at the company). Aircel had paid INR 34bn for this spectrum in the 2010 auction, which implies a 47% premium that Bharti has paid when adjusted for residual life. The same spectrum has a reserve price of INR 44bn in the upcoming auction, so Bharti has only paid a 14% premium when adjusted for residual life vs this. The impending entry of Reliance Jio has

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State of 4G LTE Device Eco-System in India

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4G EcoSystem IndiaSmartphone adoption in India is increasing at a fast pace driven largely by device affordability and increasing relevance of devices in day-to-day lives. At the same time, mass adoption of 4G in the rest of the Asia Pacific region has led to steep fall in price of LTE components and consequently LTE devices. The two factors combined with the Indian telcos’ accelerated 4G launches, are driving radical changes in the Indian smartphone market.

Around 42% of all mobile phones shipped into India in CY2015 were smartphones as compared to 10.8% in CY2011; during the same period (CY2011-15), total smartphone shipments grew at a CAGR of more than 50% (source: Gartner). 4G devices are also increasingly

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How RCom gets Free Ride on Reliance Jio’s 4G Network ?

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RCom Gets Free 4G from RJioRCOM has entered into active infra sharing with 4G entrant Reliance Jio, which allows RCOM to offer 4G services without investing much capex. RCOM active sharing limits the upside for the buyer of RCOM towers assets as demand by RCOM (anchor tenant) for additional towers in the near to medium term may not be much.

In our view RCOM had the option to either ask for a premium from Jio for trading of 800 spectrum or leverage Jio’s 4G network and offer 4G services. Charging a premium may have allowed RCOM to pay down some debt and invest in 3G but may have prevented RCOM from participating in 4G.

RCOM has chosen to offer 4G by leveraging Jio’s 4G network. Given that in the medium to long run 4G is likely to be more popular than 3G,

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Can Reliance Jio Exploit the Net Neutrality Loophole for Free 4G ?

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NetNeutrality Loophole IndiaWe were the Strongest Advocates of 100% Neutral Internet in India. We recommended the TRAI specifically not to leave any loopholes and had clearly written in our recommendations about the potential loophole of Intranets / Closed Electronic Communications Network, yet the TRAI has kept the door wide open for exploitation with veto power in its hands.

How Reliance Jio / Airtel / Other Telcos will Exploit the Loophole ?
The regulator clearly suggested in its recent tariff order that rules prohibiting differential pricing for data will not be applicable to Closed Electronic Communication Networks (CECN) or in other words, the intranet platforms of telcos. Hence telcos may attempt to monetize such an opportunity/regulatory exemption. That said, telcos will find it difficult

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Bharti Airtel Bids for Videocon’s 4G LTE 1800 Band Spectrum

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Airtel 4G LTE Spectrum Bid on VideoconSunil Mittal led Bharti Airtel announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire right to use 2X5 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz 4G LTE band from Videocon. This deal, if concluded, will mark Videocon’s exit from the telecom market. This deal happened amidst the cancellation of earlier sale of Videocon’s spectrum to Idea Cellular. The acquired spectrum in all six circles (valid until December 18, 2032) is contiguous in nature and can be used to offer LTE data services. The acquisition will further strengthen Airtel’s 4G LTE footprint, with LTE (both FDD and TDD) spectrum covering 93% of its overall revenue or 19 out of a total 22 circles.

Airtel will acquire Videocon’s spectrum (2X5 MHz in the 1800 MHz band) in six circles namely Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,

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